Fingerprint Scanner That Works From 6 Feet 83
Bruce Schneier found a somewhat older story that I haven't seen before about a device that is smaller than a tissue box, but uses two 1.3 megapixel cameras and a polarized light source to scan a fingerprint from two meters away.
Why? (Score:1)
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If it becomes good enough, then you could finger print somebody without him knowing, if his hands are open. You could wave at him, and if he waves back, then you have his finger prints.
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That's it! From now on I'm giving the finger to anyone who waves at me.
Re:Why? (Score:5, Funny)
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Kingdom for mod points, this is as funny as slashdot gets!
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There's no need for that. You just have to photograph a reflective surface, and then enhance!
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Oh, no! That's just what the spies and the government want you to do.
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Re:Why? (Score:4, Insightful)
Why? because you didn't read:
"Currently, individuals entering a military installation must place their fingers on a scanner, with a Marine standing beside them to help ensure a viable print. Powell would prefer there to be a safe distance between the Marine and the person being scanned."
aside from personal safety, if you don't touch the pad, you don't smudge it.. thus the part about "viable print"
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and how is moving the scanner going to help? The marine still has to be at the scanner, which is where the person puts his hand.
IRIS ? (Score:2)
only outdated low security use finger prints i.e. borders and crime scene investigators
soon mexico will uses iris for those...
get an iris scanner
regards
John Jones
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As I recall, when the False Reject Rate is adjusted to be comparable, the False Accept Rate also becomes comparable between the two technologies. I'm not sure that this is up to date though.
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RTFA:
The military has a growing interest in biometric sensors that operate at a distance. The U.S. Department of Defense awarded $1.5 million to Carnegie Mellon's CyLab Biometrics Lab to support development of technology that performs iris detection at 13 meters.
They're already using it... the issue is data set and captureability. You don't leave Iris prints at a crime scene. Also they have been collecting fingerprints for eons. Iris is a much newer tech and so, although there are some pretty massive Iris databases already growing, it is more likely that they have your print to match you than they have your Iris.
In our business the key is "multi-biometrics". we capture and search against as many biometrics as are available at the time. Severely increases
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regards
John Jones
The Martian Manhunter don't need no stinkin scanner.
Safe distance far more than 6 feet ... (Score:2)
"Currently, individuals entering a military installation must place their fingers on a scanner, with a Marine standing beside them to help ensure a viable print. Powell would prefer there to be a safe distance between the Marine and the person being scanned."
Given a Marine carrying a sidearm the "safe distance" is far more than 6 feet. ;-)
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What, as opposed to the TSA setting up a backscatter imager in a public place, and by the time people reached the sign indicating they were in an area that "might" be scanned, they already had been? Or a courthouse keeping thousands of images of people in the scanners?
This is all about people who
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This is all about people who are quite willing to implement the surveillance society for us. Everything you do will be monitored, without you knowing it.
I finally found a use for my tin-foil gloves.
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If you are against being a compliant sheep.....raise your hand!
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Because we can't track your movements secretly if you have to willingly put your finger on the scanner. Nothing to see here, move along citizen!
Hold on there (Score:1)
Hook up a second camera (Score:3)
Any lawyers want to comment on the legality of such an operation in the United States?
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I hate to say it but with our current Supreme Court it is not a good idea to push civil liberty issues their way. While I personally think that the intent of the Bill of Rights was to protect civil liberties I don't think our current sitting SC will rule that way.
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Not just for national security. [latimes.com]
In the immortal words of Henry Kissinger (Score:2)
The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little longer.
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this sounds very useful for you (Score:5, Funny)
At a distance it'll be even harder to tell that you're wearing a fake fingerprint skin.
Re:this sounds very useful for you (Score:4, Insightful)
But they would have a picture of who it was who showed the fake fingerprint if they have security issues.
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Conclusion (Score:3)
Fringerprints are worthless as biometric identity data because they are easy to acquire and copy but impossible to replace once compromised.
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impossible to replace once compromised.
Can you name biometrics that can be replaced?
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Can you name biometrics that can be replaced?
"Welcome back, Mr. Yakamoto! How are those assorted tank tops working out?"
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Yes. But people keep envisioning (and sometimes implementing) authentication systems that use biometrics only, which is just as bad a plan as giving 500 people the same key to a building. So long as biometrics are paired with a second authentication factor that can be changed they still represent a net improvement in security, even if a copy of your biometric data becomes available and can be successfully substituted at the point of authentication.
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You would have the same problem with alternative authentication as currently exists with the Chip & Pin system for bank cards. In theory you can sign rather than use the pin number, and in fact some people can't use the pin for medical reasons, but many retailers are deeply suspicious of people using a signature. Aside from anything else the card issuer holds them liable for fraud if they agree to accept a signature.
Isn't this bad for fingerprint scanners? (Score:4, Insightful)
Fingerprint Sniffer That Works From 6 Feet
Doesn't this technology invalidate all existing fingerprint scanners? An attacker can easily mine the fingerprints of every employee of a company by leaving a few innocent looking rocks in their parking lot.
Re:Isn't this bad for fingerprint scanners? (Score:5, Funny)
Not a problem for me. I wear tinfoil gloves.
Re:Isn't this bad for fingerprint scanners? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Exactly. We lock all kinds of things up behind conventional six-pin locks. They've been pickable for far longer than I care to consider, but we still trust that our valuables are safe.
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Most people over the age of 5 don't pick up innocent looking rocks in the parking lot.
ummm... yeah we do
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A rock by the entrance can capture the fingerprint of everyone that walks by.
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You apparently missed the "From X DISTANCE" part of the fucking story title.
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it doesn't invalidate the scanners, it just invalidates the idea that fingerprints would be secret. they're not, they never were.
it just invalidates the idea that they're secret. anyways, a scanner that works really close, with a big sensor, could provide you better results and do day-to-day adjustments.
also one thing some people forget, all regular keys can be copied with a cellphone camera and somebody with determination(or with the help of someone with determination). think about that.
(so whats the resul
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Exactly. Like all security systems, it's not perfect. Using several together can mitigate the flaws in any one system. Biometrics are useful in that they don't require you to carry around anything -- hence they are user-friendly -- and are somewhat more difficult to fake than a traditional key (not necessarily harder to obtain, but at attended posts the guard could notice your fake thumb/eye/weight belt, whereas he could not be expected to notice a fake key). But any biometric scan you'd be willing to submi
But does it work on... (Score:2)
the middle finger?
And yet... (Score:2)
... High school yearbook editors still can't seem to catch and remove all photos containing the Shocker [wikipedia.org]. Does this scanner ever error "201 - Two in the Pink, One in the Stink"?
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Can I...excuse me? (Score:2)
Thumbs up! (Score:3)
Cool, so now I can log into my laptop by giving it thumbs up if I buy the device?
Double thumbs up for su?
Re:Thumbs up! (Score:4, Funny)
Can I login by waving goodbye? (Score:2)
ooooooh.... (Score:1)
I can see how this development will enhance our liberties!
Discount? (Score:4, Funny)
Burcham says several potential customers have indicated that a single-finger scanner would be sufficient for their needs—so AOS plans to sell both a single-finger device and a more expensive five-finger device.
But shouldn't there be a 5 finger discount?
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Burcham says several potential customers have indicated that a single-finger scanner would be sufficient for their needs
Perhaps they meant a specific finger, and he didn't get the joke.
Oops... (Score:1)
Works from 6 feet (Score:1)
under?...
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Not to be technical on a tech site..but (Score:4, Interesting)
Could someone explain how this works? Is this some sort of speckle interferometer? I don't understand how you can get the ridge profile by separating the light polarities unless you're shining the laser at very steep angles..
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Maybe it's something like this Touchless 3-D Fingerprinting [technologyreview.com] with two polarized beams going at once to speed things up.
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I have no idea how this works, but I was immediately reminded of hyperspectral imaging [wikipedia.org] which can do things like pick out days old tracks that are invisible to regular cameras and the naked eye. I am only vaguely acquainted with HSI, so make of that what you will.
Really? (Score:3)
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The gym one is likely the result of sweat. Image based fingerprint scanning is probably MORE reliable.
Good News (Score:4, Interesting)